Archives for February 2016

Hard Rock Cafe is a well known brand, famous for its music, artist memorabilia and its food. Last year, the brand came to Guanacaste and opened its restaurant in Playas del Coco. Could have not choosen a better place to be, close to the airport, lots of business around, amazing environment, Playas del Coco has it all.

From great food to amazing drinks, Hard Rock Cafe is a must visit spot if you are in the area. Food plates are large and tasty, so you can have a Nacho plate which will be enough for 2 or 3 if you are just looking to snack on something while enjoying a few drinks. Another amazing dish is the Jumbo Sampler which is also enough for two. it comes with Buffalo Wings, Chicken Tenders, Focaccia, Srtichoke Dip and Onion Rings, a true delight you can´t miss. If you are very hungry, you can go for a fried fish or a stake which are fresh and amazing!

When it comes to drinks Hard Rock Cafe Guanacaste has a vast array of them to choose from. You can pick from regular soda drinks to smoothies, to signature cocktails to local and imported beer, as well as Costa Rican crafted beer, which happens to be one of the few places where you can get this type of beer in the area. To finish up your meal you can get a hot and delicious cup of Britt Coffee, you cannot come to Costa Rica and not try the Café Britt!

The staff at the Hard Rock Cafe Guanacaste is nice and always ready to help you. These guys will make your time there fun. Make sure you come by around 7:05 pm to watch the staff perform a dance and interact with you if you feel like doing it!

Leave your comments below and let us know how was your experience at the Hard Rock Cafe Guanacaste.

AyA – Costa Rican Water Supplier Authority – announced on February 1st that coming up soon there will be an additional fee on the water bill. The fee is expected to help provide free water to 61,000 families who live in extreme poverty. The fee is applicable by law since 1961 but it has never been collected. However, the need to provide clean water to poor families is becoming an issue in Costa Rica.

Now, don’t be alarmed. The fee is 485 Costa Rican colones, which comes to be about 90 cents in USD. This proposal follows along the lines of Costa Rica’s Social Justice approach, which is intended to provide basic services to those who cannot afford it due to poverty. The goal is to provide 15 cubic meters of free water to about 61.000 families per month. Any consumption in excess of 15 cubic meters will be paid by each family.

This proposal comes at a moment when diseases like Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika are on the rise and Costa Rican authorities are working hard to battle the mosquito and proper higine is among the top weapons against these diseases.

We applaude this initiative and hope this will really serve its purpose and help those families in need for clean water. Let us know in the comments section below what you think about this government measure to combat poverty.

Uber, a well-known app used to connect private drivers who offer transportation services to consumers came into Costa Rica near the end of year 2015. The entrance of the app to the happiest country in the world was not as peaceful as you would think. The official taxi drivers, red colored cars, got furious about the new services and the protest and street riots arise. Just on the first night of operations an Uber driver got ambushed by 5 official taxi drivers who wrecked his car breaking its windows and hitting it with rocks and baseball bats.

The Costa Rican government announced that the service in Costa Rica is illegal because what it offers is not contemplated nor regulated by law. However, they have said that they have no way to stop the company from offering its services or preventing the public from using it.

Last Monday February 1st, the official taxi drivers marched to the Presidential House to meet with official authorities and request that Uber gets banned from Costa Rica and that the access to the app gets blocked. Of course, the manifestation came with some disruptions like blocking main roads along the capital city and taxi drivers throwing eggs at other taxi drivers who decided to work on that day.

At the end of the meeting, the taxi drivers walked out of the Presidential House with no solution and the official authorities made no commitments and said they have no way to prevent Uber Costa Rica from operating in the country. The group of official taxi drivers said that there will be another manifestation on Monday February 8th and indicated that things could get worse if the government does not act quickly.

On the other hand Uber Costa Rica did not miss the chance to demonstrate their idea of quality services. While the official taxi drivers neglected to work on Monday, Uber Costa Rica offered a free ride up to 15.000 colones, about $30 USD for that day. No wonder who the big winner was on Monday.

According to some Uber users, the fees are lower and the service is way better than the one offered traditionally by Costa Rican taxi drivers. It is still unknown how this will unwrap but for now, taxi drivers continue to be upset about the competition and Uber continues to offer the service and growing in terms of affiliated drivers and users.